So F*cking Special: 1996 (Book 1, The So F*cking Special Series)

I Alone

I pulled into their drive easily as there were no other cars parked.

"Are they not home either?" I inquired sincerely.

July looked around at the empty drive and securely closed doors and windows. "I guess my grandad isn't back yet. I know he was coming from Corsicana earlier today. My grandmother is still at work. I hope they're all okay in this rain." It touched me that she seemed so worried about them.

"Shoot. Reagan!" She said it flustered as she began searching through her backpack.

"What?"

"She has my house key. She took something... ugh, my vest! It had my key in the pocket. It was when she left me with... the turtleneck that just keeps on giving." She took a deep breath, and her hand was on the door to go.

"Wait. What are you doing? You're not waiting out here in this storm."

"I can go open the side window. No big deal. It's fine, and thank you, Adrian. Thank you for giving me a ride home in this weather. I really do appreciate it."

It was so sincere the way she thanked me, yet I was also confused as to why she was in such a hurry to leave with no way in the house. "Look, I'm not leaving until I know you got inside."

"Okay. I'll come out the front and wave once I make it in. But you don't have to wait." She had the car door open and closed before I could respond, and I watched her running until she disappeared on the other side of the house.

The first minute or two made sense to me, but then the thunder roared again. There was a patch of it as loud and startling as it was at the bar moments ago. Then a heavier downpour followed when I didn't think more possible.

I kept looking for her, squinting through the rain to see if I could see her waving from the front door or coming back from the other side of the house. Maybe she couldn't get it opened. I was starting to get worried.

Lightning struck and revealed a tall telephone antenna on that side of the house. I knew that couldn't be safe to stand next to. I raced out of my car to find her. I turned the same corner of the house I'd watched her turn and there she was.

She was standing there less than four feet from that stupid metal antenna thing, struggling to push the window up. She stopped to look over at me. She was soaked through and through. Her questionable turtleneck now rendered obsolete.

I froze there at the corner where I was staring at her. She was so determined to do everything the hardest way possible. She stared back at me from the window frame she'd had no luck with. Water dripping from her hair, eyelashes, and lips. I wondered what she was thinking of me in that moment. The thunder rolled around us signaling more lightning.

"Get away from that antenna! You'll get struck by lightning! I screamed it as loud as I could, but I may as well been whispering it, the rain was SO LOUD. I took a step toward her and screamed her name.

"JULY!" I demanded. She ran toward me as a shotgun bang of thunder shook everything around us. I couldn't say if she was planning on stopping just as she reached me, or melting into my arms the way she did... because I grabbed her. I grabbed her and pulled her to me.

Water dripped off her face onto mine, and before either of us could think better of it, my mouth was on hers. I kissed her hard, the way I had wanted to for a while, but hadn't acknowledged.

My heart was pounding in my chest as I held her close to me. I couldn't get enough. I wasn't even sure she was kissing me back at first; I just knew it felt like something I hadn't expected and had never experienced before. I loosened my grip slightly to look at her, my face still above hers. Her eyes were dark and stared through me when they opened. I felt her take an uneven breath and I leaned in, slowly moving her lips apart with mine until my tongue found hers.